September 15, 2012
Tweet of the Day
September 13, 2012
All Hail the Onion!
I'm going to make you click to see this. Really not safe for anywhere or anybody.
WASHINGTON--Following the publication of the image above, in which the most cherished figures from multiple religious faiths were depicted engaging in a lascivious sex act of considerable depravity, no one was murdered, beaten, or had their lives threatened, sources reported Thursday.
USA! USA! USA!
RAHQOTD
In a comment to last week's Hope-a-Dope post, brother Ellis made a reference to 'Have Spacesuit - Will Travel.' It pained me that I couldn't come up with a clever acknowledgement of his obscure reference. But this morning, the events of September 11, 2012 led to my recollection of another passage from that title. It speaks to the practice of exposing oneself to a visibly unprotected life amongst others who have proven by their past behavior to be hostile to your very existence - for the misguided purpose of showing that you "trust" and "respect" those others, and seek to live happily ever after in coexistence with them. That was, it now appears, the intention of President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton's foreign policy in Libya.
We lived like that “Happy Family“ you sometimes see in traveling zoos: a lion caged with a lamb. It is a startling exhibit but the lamb has to be replaced frequently.--RAH 'Have Spacesuit - Will Travel' (1958)
Spot. On!
Posted by: Ellis Wyatt at September 13, 2012 4:56 PMSeptember 12, 2012
Okay, I Think I might Riot!
At least the Danish cartoons were funny.
Hat-tip: Eugene Volokh, who includes serious commentary that Secretary Clinton still does not get it:
The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others.
Really? What about Matt Stone & Trey Parker's hit Broadway Musical? Does that not denigrate the religious beliefs of others? Think about it, I'll wait... Does "The United States" deplore it?
Islamists Wag the Dog?
The catalyst for riots and embassy attacks in Egypt and Libya yesterday, resulting in the deaths of four American diplomats, reportedly was a low-budget film that "appeared on the internet" and "insulted Islam." Demands by Egyptian citizens that the Egyptian president "take action" have apparently borne fruit as he asked the Egyptian Embassy in the U.S. to take "all legal measures" against the makers of the film.
But first there is the problem of determining who the makers of the film really are.
A high-ranking Israeli official in Los Angeles on Wednesday said that after numerous inquiries, it appeared no one in the Hollywood film industry or in the local Israeli community knew of a Sam Bacile, the supposed director-writer of the incendiary film “Innocence of Muslims.”The official expressed some doubt that a person by that name actually existed.
DOESN'T MATTER. The American government, like the government of any free nation, isn't in the business of allowing or disallowing the published free speech of any of its citizens. The savage goatherds of Egypt and Libya don't seem to understand how that works.
Several lefties I know responded to my statement "this is an act of war" with "the attack on our embassies wasn't done by their governments, but by individuals who are not part of government; you can't hold their whole countries and their governments responsible for the actions of a few."
Why not? The purported reason for the attacks and murders was a film produced not by the American government, but by a handful of individuals in America not affiliated with the US government. If the film justifies an attack on our sovereign soil, how does the attack not justify the reverse?
OBAMA OWNS THIS WHOLE SCREW-UP, PART AND PARCEL. He and his administration fostered and encouraged the whole "Arab Spring" mess, putting Islamists in charge. We supported the Brotherhood in Egypt; we sponsored the ouster of Muammar Qaddafi in Libya and enabled the new regime ("We came, we saw, he's dead." Anyone remember that?). Syria is now in slow-motion freefall; Turkey has moved from moderation to the Islamists; Afghanistan is a fly's eyelash from becoming a proxy state of Iran, which has made it clear they intend war on Israel. This administration has turned the Middle East into a powderkeg, and the SCOAMF is sitting on it to light up a joint.
The SCOAMF no-showed the entire last week of his daily intelligence briefings. But that's okay, say his mouthpieces, because even if he doesn't attend in person, he reads the written reports daily. REALLY? Then how is it he and his administration got caught flat-footed? Why was the Benghazi compound unprotected, and the nearby safegouse compromised.
"Foreign Policy President," my muscular buttocks...
Posted by: Keith Arnold at September 12, 2012 4:27 PMYou make a rational point KA. However, American public opinion would never support military action against Libya in response to this act of war on the part of al Qaeda. Nor should it. We should, however, "hold their whole country and their government responsible" in every civil means possible. One of these is to not post an ambassador without a metric buttload of marines. Hell, we don't post an ambassador in Great Britain without a detachment of marines. THAT, among many many other failures, is on the president.
Yes, Obama "owns" this, as I wrote in the previous post. And not only because of his policy failures but also because he "spiked the football" at least 21 times at the Democrat convention last week alone, capped by his vice-president's suggestion that Obama's killing of their leader should be on a bumper sticker: "Osama's Dead. GM's Alive."
If al Qaeda sought revenge it was generally against the United States, but specifically against a president who told them one thing but did quite another.
Posted by: johngalt at September 12, 2012 5:46 PMIf Obama has not attended a single briefing in the week leading up to 9/11 (especially following the killing of OBL), then THAT is a scandal!
Posted by: Boulder Refugee at September 12, 2012 6:53 PMDemands by Egyptian citizens that the Egyptian president "take action" have apparently borne fruit as he asked the Egyptian Embassy in the U.S. to take "all legal measures" against the makers of the film.
Wow, I wish all demands by foreign governments were that easy to resolve. All legal measures against an American accused of apostasy have already been taken.
Posted by: AndyN at September 12, 2012 7:08 PMYup. So long as the Egyptian president didn't mean sharia-legal.
Posted by: johngalt at September 12, 2012 7:31 PMAugust 2, 2012
Otequay of the Ayday
Ahmadinejad added that "liberating Palestine" would solve all the world's problems, although he did not elaborate on exactly how that might work.
--From a Jerusalem Post article, reporting a speech published on the Iranian president's website today renewing his call for "the annihilation of the Zionist regime in order to pave the way for world justice and freedom."
May 10, 2011
Airplanes are so Mysterious
The story of the Yemini gentleman got me thinking of the third time I flew on a plane.
Like him, I -- it's so funny to think of it now -- I became a little disoriented, and as the plane was landing -- oh this is so embarrassing -- I mistook the cockpit for the bathroom. So there I am, pounding on the cockpit door yelling "GOD IS GREAT!!" GOD IS GREAT!!!"
I bet the other passengers thought I was nuts or something. It all seems so silly now, but when you're not used to flying, you know...
The poor man was just misunderstood. He was actually yelling, "Hey,ya'll, you gotta bar?" He only wanted a drink. Being a bunch of Islamophobes, the passengers thought he said something else.
Posted by: Boulder Refugee at May 11, 2011 9:45 AMJanuary 18, 2011
Who is "Responsible" for the Tucson Shooter?
(This is not a court of law, so I need not include the superfluous term "alleged.")
From Atlas Shrugged, Part III, Chapter 7 - "This is John Galt Speaking"
"Man's life is the standard of morality, but your own life is its purpose. If existence on earth is your goal, you must choose your actions and values by the standard of that which is proper to man -- for the purpose of preserving, fulfilling and enjoying the irreplaceable value which is your life."
Like the mysticism of fundamentalist Islam teaches the Jihadi, one of the western mysticisms taught a young Jared Loughner that his life on earth is not of value to him, that existence on earth should not be his goal, or that such an existence does not depend on his choice of actions. He was not prepared to live a happy and prosperous life. He was "a metaphysical monstrosity."
"Since life requires a specific course of action, any other course will destroy it. A being who does not hold his own life as the motive and goal of his actions, is acting on the motive and standard of death. Such a being is a metaphysical monstrosity, struggling to oppose, negate and contradict the fact of his own existence, running blindly amuck on a trail of destruction, capable of nothing but pain."
Why is it so common to find a man who is depressed and confused and desperate to discover some "meaning" for his life? Because those who purport to give him that meaning do nothing of the sort. Whether the self-described "moralists" tell man that he needs no morality or that self-sacrifice is morality's greatest virtue, they do so in contradiction with reality. When man's rational faculty attempts to resolve this contradiction it must either abandon faith, abandon reason, or self-destruct.
Like.
Posted by: jk at January 18, 2011 5:03 PMJanuary 13, 2009
I Thought Everyone Was Going To Like Us
Accompanying caption via Reuters:
Hardline demonstrators burn posters of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, during a demonstration in support of the people of Gaza, in front of the Swiss Embassy in Tehran January 13, 2009.
Notice how only "hardline" demonstraters burn posters of Obama.
$10 they would just be "protesters" if it were pictures of Bush that were being burned.
~T. Greer, bias-detector.
Posted by: T. Greer at January 13, 2009 12:08 PMJust glad to see our place in the world has been restored...
Posted by: jk at January 13, 2009 12:42 PMWelcome to the world, Mr. Obama. Say something really clever that will make them realize how wrong they've been all these years.
Posted by: Boulder Refugee at January 13, 2009 12:59 PMTo be fair, these are pro-Hamas protesters in Tehran. Not the worst enemies to have, eh?
Posted by: jk at January 13, 2009 1:06 PMThe Refugee's concern is that this may be the first time that it dawns on Obama and the Left that these people fundamentally hate America, not GWB. Sitting down over a nice cup of mint tea and sweet halva while listening attentively to their concerns will not be enough to convince these people abandon their nukes and unite in harmony with Jews and Christians.
Posted by: Boulder Refugee at January 13, 2009 3:38 PMMarch 11, 2008
God's good graces
Blind obedience to faith or manipulative rationalization? You decide: Gaza Hamas leader thanks God for his son's death in Israeli air strike
"This is a part of our people's path and, God willing, our people will achieve victory," Khalil al-Haya said.He has himself escaped assassination attempts, including an Israeli strike last May that killed two of his brothers and six other relatives gathered at a family home. Al-Haya was not in the building at the time.
How unfortunate for mister al-Haya that God frowns upon him so, and denies him the glory of martyrdom. Many others in his family were apparently in good graces with Him, however.
"I thank God for this gift," Khalil al-Haya said. "This is the 10th member of my family to receive the honor of martyrdom."
Man, that's a lot of virgins!
Seriously though, if Islamists really believed that being blown to bits by Israeli helicopters in the "conflict with Israel" was a gift from God they'd be lining up with targets on their heads.
April 26, 2007
Mitt!
Every 08 candidate gets a title with their name and an exclamation point.
"What Jimmy Carter fails to understand is what so many fail to understand: Whether it is Hamas or Hezbollah or al Qaeda, there is an overarching goal among the violent jihadists that transcends borders and boundaries. That goal is to replace all modern Islamic states with a caliphate, to destroy Israel, to cause the collapse of the West and the United States, and to conquer the world."
Yeah, I saw that quote and admit it is very good.
The deal-breaker for me for the Governor is his mandatory health insurance plan for Massachusetts. Looks like a classic W deal where you give up something to get something and get completely rolled. If we want HillaryCare, we can vote for the real deal – I was looking for something else.
With the exception of Hagel, every Republican "gets" the war.
Now it's a test of not liking them because of the other issues. ;)
February 21, 2007
I disappointed my Dad, too.
Ian at Benevolent Misanthropy posts this sad story, noting that it is neither surprising nor unique.
A father killed his wife and four daughters in their sleep because he could not bear them adopting a more westernised lifestyle, an inquest heard yesterday.Mohammed Riaz, 49, found it abhorrent that his eldest daughter wanted to be a fashion designer, and that she and her sisters were likely to reject the Muslim tradition of arranged marriages.
Their lives are not yours to take, Sir. That is the fundamental bankruptcy of that belief system.
Sorry for the flippant headline. My father was indeed devastated when I left school to pursue a musical career. But he knew the wise words of the Lebanese poet Kalil Gibran, "Your children are not your children."
December 6, 2006
Prepare To Be Angry
I've kept a cool head and cautioned others to not succumb to hatred of Muslims. I have a few Muslim friends, one very devout, one regular guy who goes to Mosque now and then, and one who'll share his ham sandwich with you. None would hurt a fly I keep all three in mind when my fellow travelers claim it is us against them.
I've paid moderate attention to the Minneapolis Airport contretemps. I thought the behavior of the imams was shameful and the obligatory media lizarding from the folks at CAIR was typically reprehensible. I considered that this was a softening blow to relax rules and set up another attack. Disconcerting, but life goes on.
Debra Burlingame lost her brother, Chic Burlingame III on 9/11; he was the pilot of AA 77 which was crashed into the Pentagon. She has a guest editorial in the Wall Street Journal (free link) today. Her piece tells the unvarnished truth and is beautifully written.
Here's what the flying public needs to know about airplanes and civil rights: Once your foot traverses the entranceway of a commercial airliner, you are no longer in a democracy in which everyone gets a vote and minority rights are affirmatively protected in furtherance of fuzzy, ever-shifting social policy. Ultimately, the responsibility for your personal safety and security rests on the shoulders of one person, the pilot in command. His primary job is to safely transport you and your belongings from one place to another. Period.This is the doctrine of "captain's authority." It has a longstanding history and a statutory mandate, further strengthened after 9/11, which recognizes that flight crews are our last line of defense between the kernel of a terrorist plot and its lethal execution. The day we tell the captain of a commercial airliner that he cannot remove a problem passenger unless he divines beyond question what is in that passenger's head and heart is the day our commercial aviation system begins to crumble. When a passenger's conduct is so disturbing and disruptive that reasonable, ordinary people fear for their lives, the captain must have the discretionary authority to respond without having to consider equal protection or First Amendment standards about which even trained lawyers with the clarity of hindsight might strongly disagree. The pilot in command can't get it wrong. At 35,000 feet, when multiple events are rapidly unfolding in real time, there is no room for error.
It is clear we must have the stomach to turn off our "Minnesota Nice" for the likes of these people. Me, I'm about ready for internment camps. Korematsu vs. United States is still on the books.
Byurhan, Mohammed and Hossein. Good guys. Calm down.
One last thing: Internment camps? What's that about?
Posted by: johngalt at December 6, 2006 2:46 PMI saw that C&F cartoon yesterday -- great stuff!
I was suggesting that the Burlingame piece made me mad enough to suggest repeating one of our nation's darkest moments when Japanese Americans were rounded up and forced into internment camps during WWII.
In Korematsu, the Supreme Court basically said that was okay. We could test Senator Specter's commitment to long held precedent if a challenge case came up.
I'm going to wade into this mess and say "Maybe we oughta start thinking about interment camps,..."
Why?
You put a part of it square on the head, JK: some Muslims are the nicest people in the world. And yes, I worked with a Muslim paramedic from Chad many years ago - nicest medic I've known in years, great empathy w/ patients.
Unfortunately, while a majority of Muslims seem to be of the benevolent, peaceful type apparently espoused by Mohammed, they're also the quietest.
If you think fascists are perverting your religion, speak up! If not, get lumped in with the rest and deal with the consequences (such as interment camps).
Posted by: TrekMedic251 at December 6, 2006 8:04 PMBTW - cross-posted for effect!
Posted by: TrekMedic251 at December 6, 2006 8:15 PMI must admit I was using it more as a rhetorical device to show how angry I was after reading the editorial. Not sure I want to go too far down this road.
It strikes me that every time a CAIR representative goes on TV, probably ten people who were ambivalent turn against Muslims. I'm not sure that organization is achieving its stated cause.
While we're beating up, though, it alarms me that these people are Islamic religious leaders. It's one thing to have wackos who claim religious grounds -- this is like a bishop blowing up an abortion center.
Ah,..JK,..once again, you and I are thinking the same thing, just from different angles!
Cool!
Posted by: TrekMedic251 at December 7, 2006 8:14 PMSeptember 11, 2006
9/11
Dean Barnett has a must read post on the events of five years ago.
- IT HAS BECOME A TRITE LAMENT that 9/11 brought us together, and it’s a shame that since then we’ve come apart. But 9/11 brought us together because of two transitory emotions – sadness and rage. Once those emotions calmed down, once our open wounds turned into scars, it was inevitable that our differences would resurface.
When the flags came out in the aftermath of 9/11, they didn’t signify a consensus on where we would go from there. They symbolized a consensus that we were all in pain, all anguished. When the time came to move on, disagreements inevitably (and not improperly) came regarding exactly how we should move on.
Even though a thorough review of 9/11, including both its lead-up and aftermath, won’t provide an obvious path forward that everyone will agree on, there are some valuable lessons we can draw from that awful day. Looking back, we can clearly see the remorseless murderers that our enemies are – that knowledge is instructive. And we can also see that they are numerous. That, too, is important to take into account.
But the most important lesson we can take from 9/11 is this: We must take every possible step to ensure never again. Never again will we allow ourselves to feel the way we did that day. Never again will we be so blind to storm clouds as they gather. Never again will we choose to believe comforting lies rather than disquieting truths.
June 8, 2006
Enthusiasm
The New Republic's The Plank.
- there's the guy who called into the "Diane Rehm Show" this morning and choked up with tears as he recounted, "I woke up this morning and learned my country had dropped a bomb on someone's head...." Meanwhile another caller wanted to know how many innocent civilians had been killed in the raid (not an unreasonable question, I hasten to add--but this caller, too, displayed roughly zero enthusiasm for Zarqawi's demise).
Decision 08 has a bunch of quality quotes.
Atrios:
- I’m supposed to give the obligatory “YAY USA!” cheer here, but while it’s good to get the bad guys I don’t really think it’s going to improve much. Hopefully I’m wrong.
Steve Benan:
- [W]hile it’s no doubt good news that Zarqawi is no more, it’s worth remembering that Bush wasn’t willing to hit this known al-Qaeda terrorist in a known location based on air-tight intelligence before the war even began.
June 7, 2006
The Toronto Terrorists
I haven't linked to Lileks for a while.
But here's a must read.
- You're an enlightened world citizen. Your T-shirt says "9/11 was an inside job." You're pretty sure we're living in a fascist state, that President Bush taps the Dixie Chicks' phones, Christian abortion clinic bombers outnumber jihadis, and the war on "terror" is a distraction from the real threats: carbon emissions and Pat Robertson. Then you learn that 17 people were arrested in a terrorist bomb plot. How do you process the information? Let's take it step by step.
May 30, 2006
Take 2
The British police have been stretched thin, preventing domestic terrorist attacks. They have prevented 20 "major attacks" recently, but there are still 2,000 or so jihadists loose in the country.
Here is a post from Jihad Watch about one attack that was stopped -- and about what the terrorists used to justify their actions. The first paragraph in the post says it all.
This story contains much of the information that I posted here: these plotters were planning jihad attacks against a British nightclub and other targets. But this story adds some important new details -- particularly about how these plotters, like Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, believed that what they were doing was in accord with the Qur'an, and quoted particular verses to support this. Yet all too many Muslims in the West continue to spend their time convincing gullible non-Muslims that the verses in question don't mean what to these plotters is "just clear" that they do mean -- instead of trying to combat the iunfluence of the plotters' interpretation among Muslims, which of course would be much more difficult, but would be immensely more worthwhile in combating the jihad these Muslims profess to oppose."Gang 'plotted to blow up Ministry of Sound,'" from The Telegraph, with thanks to David:
An alleged al-Qa'eda terrorist cell discussed blowing up the Ministry of Sound nightclub to take revenge on "those slags dancing around", a jury heard yesterday....Akbar, then 20 and studying at Brunel University, suggested targeting bars ...
...
Akbar said: "Our purpose is to defend the honour of the Muslim, yeah, and bring the Islamic state back because if the Islamic state were here then the problems would not be there."
...
Khyam said he believed Britain was a kufr [heathen] country and added: "You see things different, but me, it's just nothing, they just need to be killed and blood spilled. To me this is clear.''The verse says lay in ambush for them, besiege them and kill them when you find them, to me that's just clear, kill them."
Quoting the Koran, Akbar said: "The best thing you can do is put terror in their hearts, there is no doubt, there is nothing better than that. We put fear in their hearts."
...
... It is claimed the gang were planning to use half a ton of ammonium nitrate stored in a lock-up in north west London for a homemade bomb.Here are some of the Qur'an verses Akbar probably quoted about terror:
"Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority: their abode will be the Fire: And evil is the home of the wrong-doers!" (Qur'an 3:151)
"How many a township have We destroyed! As a raid by night, or while they slept at noon, Our terror came unto them. No plea had they, when Our terror came unto them, save that they said: Lo! We were wrong-doers." (Qur'an 7:4-5)
"Remember thy Lord inspired the angels (with the message): 'I am with you: give firmness to the Believers: I will instil terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them.'" (Qur'an 8:12)
"Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies, of Allah and your enemies, and others besides, whom ye may not know, but whom Allah doth know. Whatever ye shall spend in the cause of Allah, shall be repaid unto you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly." (Qur'an 8:60)
The rest of the Telegraph's article is worth reading. It gives more detail, and has a link to a surveillance recording of the 6 jihadists' plot.
May 29, 2006
On This Date In History
Jihad Watch has another good post today: “Black Tuesday on a Monday.” It goes right along with what Dr. Lewis said in my post "Intellectual History of Islamofascism."
On Tuesday, May 29, 1453, the armies of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II entered Constantinople, breaking through the defenses of a vastly outnumbered and indomitably courageous Byzantine force. Historian Steven Runciman notes what happened next: the Muslim soldiers "slew everyone that they met in the streets, men, women, and children without discrimination. The blood ran in rivers down the steep streets from the heights of Petra toward the Golden Horn. But soon the lust for slaughter was assuaged. The soldiers realized that captives and precious objects would bring them greater profit." (The Fall of Constantinople 1453, Cambridge University Press, 1965, p. 145.)It has come to be known as Black Tuesday, the Last Day of the World.
Some jihadists "made for the small but splendid churches by the walls, Saint George by the Charisian Gate, Saint John in Petra, and the lovely church of the monastery of the Holy Saviour in Chora, to strip them of their stores of plate and their vestments and everything else that could be torn from them. In the Chora they left the mosaics and frescoes, but they destroyed the icon of the Mother of God, the Hodigitria, the holiest picture in all Byzantium, painted, so men said, by Saint Luke himself. It had been taken there from its own church beside the Palace at the beginning of the siege, that its beneficient presence might be at hand to inspire the defenders on the walls. It was taken from its setting and hacked into four pieces." (P. 146.)
The rest of the article is worth reading.
On This Date In History
Jihad Watch has another good post today: “Black Tuesday on a Monday.” It goes right along with what Dr. Lewis said in my post "Intellectual History of Islamofascism."
On Tuesday, May 29, 1453, the armies of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II entered Constantinople, breaking through the defenses of a vastly outnumbered and indomitably courageous Byzantine force. Historian Steven Runciman notes what happened next: the Muslim soldiers "slew everyone that they met in the streets, men, women, and children without discrimination. The blood ran in rivers down the steep streets from the heights of Petra toward the Golden Horn. But soon the lust for slaughter was assuaged. The soldiers realized that captives and precious objects would bring them greater profit." (The Fall of Constantinople 1453, Cambridge University Press, 1965, p. 145.)It has come to be known as Black Tuesday, the Last Day of the World.
Some jihadists "made for the small but splendid churches by the walls, Saint George by the Charisian Gate, Saint John in Petra, and the lovely church of the monastery of the Holy Saviour in Chora, to strip them of their stores of plate and their vestments and everything else that could be torn from them. In the Chora they left the mosaics and frescoes, but they destroyed the icon of the Mother of God, the Hodigitria, the holiest picture in all Byzantium, painted, so men said, by Saint Luke himself. It had been taken there from its own church beside the Palace at the beginning of the siege, that its beneficient presence might be at hand to inspire the defenders on the walls. It was taken from its setting and hacked into four pieces." (P. 146.)
The rest of the article is worth reading.
May 26, 2006
While We Were Sleeping...
Jihad Watch had a post about the suicide bombers which the Iranian government is registering and preparing for battle. The Iranians said they were going to do this, and they are good to their word.
From Iran Focus, with thanks to JE:Tehran, Iran, May 26 – More than 100 radical Islamists affiliated to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) gathered on Thursday in Tehran’s most famous cemetery vowing to blow themselves up in suicide attacks to kill Americans, Britons, and Israelis.
The “martyrdom-seeking volunteers”, most of whom had covered their faces with a chafieh, issued a warning to Washington that they would blow up United States interests around the world if Iran’s nuclear installations came under attack.
Mohammad-Ali Samadi, spokesman for the Headquarters to Commemorate the Martyrs of the Global Islamic Movement, a government-orchestrated campaign to recruit suicide bombers, repeated a claim made earlier in the week that more than 55,000 “volunteers for martyrdom-seeking operations” had been registered so far by the organisation, which also calls itself “Estesh’hadioun”, or martyrdom-seekers.
A huge banner was displayed at the event, depicting the coffins of American and British troops in Iraq
May 25, 2006
Oui!!
Here -- can anyone corroborate this story? -- is an unpleasant post from the folks at Infidel Bloggers:
That Infamous "Chatter" Must Be Pretty High For This To Have Come OutEvery since shortly after 9/11, we have heard that the FBI, and the CIA, had heard a lot of "chatter" in the days leading up to the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon. A few times since then, we have also been told that "chatter" had, once again, spiked.
If I recall correctly, there was a spike in the days previous to the 3/11 attack, and also in the days leading up to the uncovering a terrorist cell in Jordan who were said to have been in possession of 1 ton of chemical weapons.I could be wrong in my recollection here. Please correct me, if my memory is faulty on this.
Anyway, today the New York Post published an article saying that the FBI and the Justice Department have launched "urgent" investigations into some Hizbollah terrorist cells in major cities around the U.S., including NYC.
Assuming the New York Post did not leak classified information here, we have to assume that the fact that such news has been released means things really are urgent. If they weren't the FBI and the Justice Dept. would have slowly, but surely, formed an airtight ring around these guys, in order to build a case, and catch them in the act.
Here's the story. Check it out:
May 22, 2006 — WASHINGTON - The Hezbollah terror group - one of the most dangerous in the world - may be planning to activate sleeper cells in New York and other big cities to stage an attack as the nuclear showdown with Iran heats up, sources told The Post.The FBI and Justice Department have launched urgent new probes in New York and other cities targeting members of the Lebanese terror group. Law-enforcement and intelligence officials told The Post that about a dozen hard-core supporters of Hezbollah have been identified in recent weeks as operating in the New York area.
Sources said the activities of these New York-based operatives are being monitored by FBI counterterrorism agents as part of a nationwide effort to prevent a possible terror strike if the confrontation with Iran over its nuclear program spins out of control.
Additional law-enforcement attention is being centered on the Iranian Mission to the United Nations, where there have already been three episodes in the last four years in which diplomats and security guards have been expelled for casing and photographing New York City subways and other potential targets.
The nationwide effort to neutralize Hezbollah sleepers in the United States, being spearheaded by the FBI and Justice Department’s counterterrorism divisions, was triggered in January in response to alarming reports that Iran’s fanatical president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, met with leaders of Hezbollah and other terror groups during a visit to Syria.
Among those attending the meetings, according to reliable reports, was Hezbollah’s chief operational planner, Imad Mugniyah - considered one of the most dangerous terrorists in the world - who is responsible for the bombings of the 1983 U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut and who, more recently, provided Iraqi guerrillas with sophisticated explosive devices.
U.S. officials stressed there is no intelligence information pointing to an imminent attack by Hezbollah. But officials said they have detected increased activity by Hezbollah operatives - including more heated rhetoric by its leaders and in Internet chat rooms as the U.S.-Iran diplomatic showdown heats up.
I'm guessing the FBI and the Justice released this information because they are not sure whether they have been able to detect and monitor all the cells. Therefore, perhaps, they have concluded that it is better at this juncture to keep the terrorist cells worrying that they are being monitored.We can also assume that we are not being the whole story here. For instance, I would really like to know what kind of attacks are in the pipeline. We may never hear, or we may wake up one day and not have to be told.
Let's hope nothing happens, or if there are terrorists about to strike, they are stopped.
If the US would have taken action 5 -- or preferrably 30 -- years ago against Islamofascism, we would not be in this predicament today... This is not case of "hindsight is 20-20," this is a case of irrationality and pragmatism plaguing our house.
Posted by Cyrano at 1:26 AM | Comments (2)But mdmhvonpa thinks:Trace this toxic path right to the feet of the Carter administration. He was resigned to a declining America.
Posted by: mdmhvonpa at May 25, 2006 10:00 AMBut jk thinks:Nothing I love more than a good whack at our 39th President and I agree that he is culpable.
Historically, however, none of the Presidents before the current one has a great record. I’m willing to forgive President Reagan for Iran-Contra. But I think his biggest mistake was pulling the Marines out of Beirut after the bombing. President Clinton offered the same bad lesson in Somalia.
Posted by: jk at May 26, 2006 10:02 AM
May 20, 2006
Islamic Heaven For Women
This is a good point by comedian B.J. Novak. It shows what good women have to look forward to, according to the Islamic view of the "hereafter."
Posted by Cyrano at 10:02 PM | Comments (1)But Cyrano thinks:JK:
I was able to see both videos I linked to. I had to get around my pop-up blocker, yes, but that was easily done.
--Cyrano
Posted by: Cyrano at May 22, 2006 10:52 PM
April 21, 2006
Private Planes
The Transportation Security Administration has warned aircraft owners and airport managers that Muslim extremists may be targeting private American jets and urged them to boost security.
"On April 13, 2006, a message posted in Arabic on an Internet forum explained how to identify private American jets and urged Muslims to destroy all such aircraft," the TSA said in an advisory issued on Thursday and obtained by Reuters on Friday.
The TSA quoted the Arabic message as saying: "We call upon all Muslims to follow and identify private civilian American aircrafts in all airports of the world."
"It is the duty of Muslims to destroy all types of private American aircraft that are of the types Gulfstream and Lear Jet and all small aircraft usually used by distinguished (people) and businessmen," it quoted the message as saying.
Hmm. I always figured that stealing a plane from an airport and flying it into a supertanker or an oil refinery would be high on the list. Those guys are slow.Posted by AlexC at 4:33 PM | Comments (1)But jk thinks:Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Posted by: jk at April 21, 2006 5:18 PM
March 17, 2006
Moussaoui
The lead editorial in today's Wall Street Journal (free link) makes a good and obvious point about the Moussaoui case. This case never should have been in civilian court.
The witness coaching was a prosecutorial blunder, which is a shame, but that is not the main issue here. A bigger mistake was President Bush's decision nearly four and a half years ago to assign Moussaoui to trial in a civilian criminal court. As we know from captured al Qaeda training manuals, recruits are instructed in how to exploit the West's legal system if they are caught. The lesson of the Moussaoui trial is that the regular criminal justice system isn't up to the job of trying most terrorists.Moussaoui would have been the ideal defendant to inaugurate the President's then newly announced--and subsequently much maligned--military commissions. Much of the evidence against him was unclassified and could have been produced in open court. If he had demanded access to classified information--as he did during his criminal trial--it would have been an easy matter to seal the courtroom and show it to his lawyers, all of whom would have had security clearances. The criminal prosecution was a missed opportunity to show the world how trial by military tribunal would work.
Which brings us to Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, which the U.S. Supreme Court will hear later this month. The case challenges the constitutionality of the military commissions announced by Mr. Bush on November 13, 2001, to try suspected terrorists. It further argues
Sadly, this again requires seriousness in our nation's belief that we are at war. Lincoln suspended habeas corpus for the nation. To preserve the Union. I don't want to go there but don't feel we need to let combatants into the civil justice system.
Posted by John Kranz at 11:22 AM
February 14, 2006
Giving the Philly Inquirer Credit
The Philadelphia Inquirer ran the Muhammed "offending" cartoons last week and was met with a few hundred protesters.
John Grogan writes:
The protesters spoke their minds - loudly and forcibly - and made their disgust known.
Elsewhere in the world, Danish embassies have been burned, and riots have turned bloody. And that is hugely ironic, considering the whole point of the cartoon is that Islam has been hijacked by a minority of violent extremists who act inconsistently with the religion's tenets.
What better way to sustain post-9/11 stereotypes of Muslims as prone to religious violence than to protest an image by... turning violent?
Fortunately, that did not happen in Philadelphia. Not even close. While there was some hostility in the crowd, everyone behaved.
There were some who shouted ugly things and distributed unsavory images, but they were in the minority. And even the worst of it fell well within the bounds of a cherished democratic tradition: the right to free speech and open assembly. The right to disagree and be heard.
Some protesters called for a boycott of the newspaper, and for readers to cancel their subscriptions. It's all fair game, and a rich part of that crazy, messy, not always pretty institution known as democracy.
Amen.Posted by AlexC at 12:28 PM
February 11, 2006
Call Me Crazy...
... but I think Denmark's Queen Margrethe has a great body for a woman her age.
(tip to Michelle Malkin, who remembers the last Muslim bikini incident)
Posted by AlexC at 7:31 PM | Comments (1)But jk thinks:I cannot look at that without hearing the "Monty Python" theme. Da dun da dun da dun da dun. Da dunnuhnuhnuh da nuuuh...
Posted by: jk at February 12, 2006 2:50 PM
February 8, 2006
Blues for Allah
I've been listening to the Grateful Dead lately.
I'm wondering if there were any Muslim Deadheads and if there was any bad blood about their 1975 release, Blues for Allah.
And who is this guy on the album cover playing the violin? If it's Mohammed there's a real problem. If it's one of the Grateful Dead, an infidel, there's a problem.
Is Allah really into the blues?
Posted by AlexC at 4:59 PM | Comments (2)But jk thinks:Whoa, dude, you're such an infidel...
Posted by: jk at February 9, 2006 11:00 AMBut AlexC thinks:Dude... be cool man....I respect the Arab culture.... man... one time there was this dude that had this hookah.... and we fogged up our VW van with hash smoke.... man.... it was soooooo awesome......
Posted by: AlexC at February 9, 2006 12:28 PM
February 7, 2006
The New Franz Ferdinand
When Gavrilo Princip pulled the trigger to kill Austria's Archduke Ferdinand I don't think anyone thought that his action would lead to a bloody war lasting four years encompassing most of the world's nations.
The actual causes of the war between the Allies and the Axis powers were simmering for a while.
Ten or fifteen years from now, will we remember "Jyllands-Posten" in the same way?
The straw that broke the proverbial camel's back?
Posted by AlexC at 7:18 PM | Comments (2)But Silence Dogood thinks:That right there is the truly scary question.
Posted by: Silence Dogood at February 8, 2006 6:30 PMBut jk thinks:WW One is the weakest part of my admittedly weak historical knowledge, but my reading is that a generation died and no constructive good was done. I'll sit still for a correction if it's warranted.
My fear is that that is the other parallel -- a clash of civilizations without an outcome.
Posted by: jk at February 8, 2006 6:52 PM
February 6, 2006
Danes in Iran
The cartoon conflagration grows.
A crowd of about 400 demonstrators threw petrol bombs at the Danish embassy in Tehran and tried to break into it on Monday night in a protest over the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad.
To chants of "God is Greatest" and "Death to America" the crowd tried to break down the metal gate entrance to the embassy, which sits behind a high wall in a residential district of northern Tehran, a Reuters correspondent said.
Riot police fired teargas to disperse the crowd but at least three protesters managed to scale the barbed-wire topped wall and get into the compound.
Good to see that the police are trying to manage the situation.
The embassy had been evacuated ahead of the pre-announced protest organised by the Basij, a volunteer militia affiliated to Iran's hardline Revolutionary Guards.
Of course, an ounce of prevention would have gone a long way here. I can't imagine why you would evacuate a building if it was only going to be a protest.Posted by AlexC at 5:42 PM
